Clasp.



I No. 785,720. PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

W. D. DORBMUS.

CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED MAE. 28,1904.

Winn/55x55.-

UNITED STATES Patented lriarch 28, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

CLASP. A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,720, dated March 28, 1905.

Application filed March 28, 1904. Serial No. 200,377.

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD D. DOREMUS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in clasps; and it consists in a hook-shaped opensided device, one side of which, in other words, is open and provided with a spring-tongue which cooperates with one side of the opening in the body of the clasp and is adapted to overlie the opening, whereby to readily yield to the material to which the clasp is to be applied when a portion of the latter is engaged by it, the spring-tongue and the free end of the clasp yielding automatically to the thickness of such material and the tongue fastening it securely against being accidentally pulled therefrom, thus providing a device which may be easily and quickly applied or detached at will and which will effectually hold the garment or other fabric without cutting or injuring it by reason of the fact that the hold upon it is of or along a comparatively extended area limited only by the length of opening in the side of the clasp and the length of the spring-tongue, which cooperates therewith.

In carrying out my invention it is my pur pose not only to provide a device which will effectually hold the article to which it is applied and one capable of being quickly and conveniently attached or detached, but also to provide an article which may be easily and quickly made at a comparatively small initial cost, which will be neat in appearance, approximately fiat, so as to occupy a limited amount of space without bulging out the goods to which it is immediately attached or those outside of it when used as a garmentsupporter; and it is further my intention, with these other objects in view, to provide a neat and attractive article having the several functions specified, as well as manyothers which it is needless to mention in this brief to an elastic garter. Fig. 2 is a view of the clasp detached. Fig. 3 is a view of the blank from which it is formed. Fig. 4: is a view of the clasp from theopposite side. Fig. 5 is a perspective, and Fig. 6 is a view of a modification.

The clasp comprises in its preferred form a perfectly-flat hook-shaped plate having an open slot 1 in the side and a portion of the metal at one edge thereof struck up to form a flange 2, which flange is preferably rounded off at the ends in order to avoid presenting an abrupt obstruction. The flange may be said to possess two functions,which I will mention in the reverse order of their importance: First, it strengthens the plate, and, secondly, it cooperates with the spring-tongue in engaging the material to which the clasp is attached. B is this tongue,which in the constructions illustrated is integral with the end of the clasp, although not necessarily so, the metal of the blank being folded over along the dotted line 5, (shown in Fig. 3,) so that the tongue parallels the flange or lip 2, which it just clears, completely closing the slot 1 in plate A, and the tongue by being supported along the line 5 merely yields readily to the pressure of the fabric as it is crowded between the inner edge of the tongue and the adjacent edge of the flange or lip, thereby adjusting itself to the thickness of the fabric and like the tongue of an ordinary buckle taking a secure hold upon the latter and preventing it from being pulled from the clasp in any direction except in the reverse of that in which it entered the clasp.

The outer edge of the hook preferably extends at an acute angle to the adjacent edge of the shank, so that a V-shaped throat 6 is provided in order to guide the fabric into the slot and facilitate hooking the clasp to it, and to strengthen the tongue at this point and prevent it from yielding at that quarter a slightlyupturned flange 7 is preferably formed. In

the preferred form of clasp a slot 8 is formed at the upper end to receive the elastic or other webbing to which the clasp is secured.

One of the applications of this device which I have in mind is for garters and the class of garters, for example, which pass around the leg and are fastened with a pendent end to which this clasp is adapted to be attached, as shown in Fig. 1. Of course it is applicable to any other form of garter as well, besides having a great variety of other applications far too numerous to mention. It is sometimes desirable to omit the elastic, and I propose to provide a double clasp, (illustrated in Fig. 6,) it being possible to use this style to fasten a stocking directly to the underdrawers, using one clasp, the one at the lower end to attach to the stocking and the upper one for attachment to the drawers.

In the operation of my improved clasp the shank may be grasped by the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and a portion of the garment or other fabric to be fastened may be pinched up by the thumb and foreiingerof the other hand, whereupon the clasp is hooked around this pinched portion of the fabric, the outer end of the clasp first yielding from the point Where it unites with the shank. Then as the web of the fabric passes on into the slot the tongue gradually yields to the thickness of the material until the fabric is held throughout the length of the slot by the flange or lip and the adjacent edge of the tongue. In this way instead of holding the material by a few threads it is held uniformly for a considerable distance, thns greatly lessening the danger, and, I may say, entirely preventing undue wear and tear of the goods to be held, while at the same time preventing accidental displacement.

Slight changes in addition to those mentioned might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction herein set forth; but

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a clasp comprising a plate having a slot formed therein, and a tongue which overlaps a portion at least of said slot, an edge of which tongue cooperates with an edge of the slot to grip the material to which the device is to be applied.

2. As an article of manufacture, aclasp comprising a plate having an open slot formed in one side and a spring-tongue which overlaps said slot, one edge of which tongue cooperates with an edge of the slot to grip the material to which the device is to be applied.

3. As an article of manufacture, aclasp comprising a plate having an open slot formed in one side and a flange bent upwardly along one edge thereof to form a lip, and a spring-tongue connected at one end only With one end of the clasp, and lying parallel with the lip and adapted to receive and hold the fabric to which the clasp is attached therebetween.

4. As an article of manufacture, a clasp comprising a plate having an open slot formed in one side and a flange bent upwardly along one edge thereof to forma lip, and asp ring-tongue connected at one end only with one end of the clasp, and lying parallel with the lip and adapted to receive and hold the fabric to which the clasp is attached therebetween, a V-shaped throat being formed at the entrance of the slot.

5. As an article of manufacture, an opensided clasp comprising a plate having an open slot formed in one side and a flange bent upwardly along one edge thereof to form a lip, and a tongue connected with one end of the clasp, and lying parallel with the lip and adapted to receive and hold the fabric to which the clasp is attached therebetween, a V-shaped throat being formed at the entrance of the slot, the edge of the tongue forming one side of the \I-shaped throat being flanged.

6. As an article of manufacture, an opensided clasp provided with an open slot whereby it is given the general form of ahook, and a spring-tongue connected to the free end of the hook and overlapping the opening therein, and parallel with one edge of the latter.

7. As an article of manufacture, aelasp having a slot therein and provided with yielding means located in a different plane from that of the body of the clasp between one edge of which and an edge of the slot the article to be held is gripped.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

\VlLLARl) l). DOREMUS.

Vitnesses:

A. G. DUBoIs, FRANK E. Nnw'roN. 

